Maryam, not her real name, had the majority of her gold jewellery stolen when her home in Bradford was burgled in 2018.
About £15,000 of gold was stolen, but she said today it would have been worth about £25,000.
For Maryam, while losing the jewellery was devastating, she said the hardest part was losing the memories attached to it, as some of it belonged to her mother, who died shortly before the burglary.
She said: “It was like somebody stole my heart, somebody stole my soul.
“It was like I lost her all over again.”
Maryam was at work when the burglary happened. Her husband, who had returned from collecting the children, found the house ransacked.
She said: “We sat for an hour, just looking at each other.
“We couldn’t say anything. We called the police and they came two hours later.”
Maryam said she felt the police did not do enough, saying a forensic report could not identify the criminals as they were wearing gloves.
In the days after the incident she visited jewellery shops in the area to see if her gold had appeared.
In a statement West Yorkshire Police said: “Thefts have been rising in recent years with the overwhelming majority of jewellery taken in domestic burglaries.
“As a result we have initiated a force-wide response to the issue with co-ordinated crime prevention work taking place.
“This has included work with faith and cultural groups and key community contacts to raise awareness of crime prevention measures, such as installing home safes.
“Police have also visited mosques around key times such as Eid to speak with worshippers to provide crime prevention advice.”
